


Part of Your World

by ForFutureReference



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Derek "Nursey" Nurse is Unchill, Grevious harm with a sea creature, M/M, Merpeople
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 16:32:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16836373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForFutureReference/pseuds/ForFutureReference
Summary: Nursey goes to Maine with Dex and gets on a lobster boat. You know the story.... Or do you???While at sea, Dex reveals a secret that rocks not only Nursey's perception of his defense partner... but reality itself.Splashes, kisses, and sea cucumbers ensue.Originally posted in tumblr for MerMay.





	Part of Your World

Being out on the water in the Gulf of Maine can present you with quite a spectacle. 

The rising sun just beginning to cast its light. Clouds in the horizon concentrating that dawning light into golden shafts that slash across the sky and reflect upon the calm water. A light fog giving an aura of stillness over gently rolling waves. And little white terns flitting around and calling to one another in sharp tones.

It’s a beautiful sight.

Or it would be if I didn’t feel like upchucking over the side of the lobster boat… and in front of a judgmental William Poindexter, who stares at me with that now-predictable mixture of crankiness and concern. Refusing to buckle before Dex is probably the only thing that’s keeping me upright.

“I thought you told me that you've already been at sea.”

“Yachts,” I correct him. “I was on yachts.” Ones that were a bit bigger than this vessel and didn’t rock uncontrollably whenever a damn cruise ship would pass by.

“Well that explains everything…” Dex emphasizes that by doing an obvious once-over of me with his eyes.

“Take it all in, Poindexter.” I emphasize my own statement with a weak gin and by gesticulating over my pink lobster-embroidered shirt, pastel lobster-print chino shorts, and… regular boat shoes. “You know you like it.”

Dex found the whole get-up horrifying. To Dex’s increased horror, the uncle — I call him “Boatdexter” — running this boat and cousins helping along found it hilarious, and they encouraged me to wear it out to sea. Besides, at least for this first trip, they fully forbade me to haul traps — though that may change if I go out with them again — so I might as well be comfortable. 

Well… as comfortable as I can get. Because right now, chirps are the only thing keeping me from wigging out, and I’m not sure how long that can last. 

And of course Dex just has to make things harder by hovering around me — when he isn’t hauling traps — to make sure I’m inventorying correctly.

Before long… after Dex asks for an obscure tool… then asks if I know what I’m doing and want to take a break… that last fraying thread snaps. 

“Dude like I don’t even know bc this whole mermy Dexy thing kinda came out of nowhere and I don’t know why you’re down there or what you need and you think I know these things but I don’t Nemo!”

_Fuck that feels good!_

It really does, even if I have to take a deep breath to make up for the lack of pause in that rant. As my breathing slows back down, I plop down on a pile of ropes to stare at Dex, who just scowls back at me with the usual reddening of his ears.

A couple minutes of silent staredown passes before a cousin takes pity on us, grabs the requested tool, and hands it to Dex… who mutters curt thanks, puts the tool in one of his utility pouches, and dives back into the depths. Though not before soaking me with a flick of his tail.

Oh, did I mention that Dex is a merman? Well Dex is a fucking merman.

Now did he warn me in advance about that little tidbit? Did he warn me in advance that he was a figure of myth and fantasy? Of course not.

Though to be fair, I think he was trying to tell me but, in true Dexy fashion, was shit at communication. It certainly explained why he kept second-guessing my decision to come along in the trip… or looked like he was about to say something but kept stopping himself. But I didn’t want to assume or pressure him.

Still, I should have been suspicious when I first saw that Dex wasn’t dressed in the rubber overalls like his relatives but rather his regular clothes.

Then we reached the first trap. Then he proceeded to strip down to his swimsuit before gearing up with something that looked like a utility-belt-and-small-backpack combo. Then he dove out into the water… and didn’t surface.

I was already caught off-guard by him getting into the water. When a minute passed without him surfacing, I didn’t pay attention to how unbothered the rest of my companions were. Instead I frantically rushed over to the side of the boat to peer into the aquamarine depths.

“Dex? DEX? DE—”

“WHAT?”

Dex’s irate exclamation from the other side of the boat made me turn around… right in time to have his speedos — his claim is that they’re easier than trunks or jammers to carry in a pouch and wear clothes over; which… whatever… — slap me in the face.

As I peeled that… garment off, I heard Dex berating me for running around the deck recklessly. Then I saw him, and anything else he was jabbering about faded into a muted drone. Nothing else mattered more than the sight before me.

Overall, if you look at him from the waist up, Dex looks like he normally does at first glance. That is until you notice his eyes and how those gold irises have not only gotten more reflective but twice the size, with the sclerae that’s visible having gone from white to pitch black. Or how his canines are noticeably larger and sharper than you’d expect from a human. Or how his coppery hair really does look like fire in how it pulses with light bright enough to be noticeable even with the morning sun.

Then you notice the tail. Not a legs-replacing fishy tail like popular culture sells. Nope. This is a segmented exoskeleton-clad structure around ten times the length of his torso, patterned in an aquamarine hue similar to its surroundings, and terminating in a fan-like articulated fin. His actual legs are transformed into large fins, a multitude of mini fins are undulate along the underside and flank of the tail, and the top of each segment has a set of spiny siphons to shoot water out in a jet-like stream.

I must have been gaping at Dex long enough for him to finally remember that this was the first time I saw him like that; because he suddenly clammed up, got really red with that blush accompanied by a heightened intensity of his hair’s glow, and dove back into the water.

While Dex was down in the depths, Boatdexter took the time to explain things to me.

They don’t know how or when the ability first arose; just that it’s magic in the fullest sense — including the transformation, which happens at will and not just in the presence of water — and probably involves something akin to a Land of the Fae. It’s not guaranteed that someone in the family will have the ability, but everyone who has the ability has been born in the family. Some have used that ability in joining the Special Forces or working in underwater construction; others are just satisfied hauling traps.

In any case, by the time Dex brought that first trap up, I recovered from the revelation and was able to do my assigned job of recording the number of lobsters taken in or thrown back. I’d probably do better if not for the concerned glances he kept sending me.

Leading to this poi—

“Wait…”

That word, uttered right by my ear, does not cause me to jump up and yelp in an undignified high-pitched manner that would be a non-ending source of chirps if it ever reaches the team. Nope. Not at all. 

Dex ignores my not-reaction as he gingerlly drops a basketful of a sea cucumbers into the boat; the Chinese pay top dollar for those creatures, so he harvests a few on the side when he dives down. “Did you just use ‘beecee’ in place of ‘because’? Why… _why_ am I not surprised?”

Despite everything… Despite my sluggish acclimatization to being at sea in a boat smaller than I’m used to… Despite this frustrating sense of uselessness… Despite my fellow D-man turning out to be a creature out of a fantasy book… I offer Dex a lazy grin.

Dex’s scowl deepens enough to allow one of those oversized canines to peek out, the glow of his hair increases in pulse and brightens to the point of casting mild flickering shadows, and a part of me ponders the veracity of those stories where pissed-off mermaids drag mariners to the depths.

Still…

I widen my grin and peck him on the nose before giving my answer:

“Hashtag linguistics.”

Memo to self: being beaned in the face with what's essentially a living dildo of the sea is not a pleasant experience. Boatdexter tells me that the white, sticky, rapidly-solidifying goop that had been squirted all over my face and hair — yes, I'm aware how this sounds, fuck you very much — are the innards the creature releases for self-defense; which… _the fuck…_

Still, as I peel away the nylon-like filaments, one thought crosses my mind:

_#worthit_

__

**Author's Note:**

> So some fact notes about this little mermy AU:  
> Dex's tail is technically an actual tail, not transformed legs, which become stabilizing flippers. While it may be tempting to compare him to a lobster, his tail is more closer in form to that of Stomatopoda. He's propelled forward through undulations of the swimmerets (which can be used to both swim and scuttle; including on land), jets of water (supplied by spiracles that also serve as respiration), and simple movement of the tail fin.  
> Eyes and irises are larger to allow more light in and take into account drastic changes in light.  
> His lungs serve mostly to help with buoyancy and to communicate with people. They collapse when he dives.  
> There is a transition form that between the usual land and mer form. He has his usual land body plan, but stuff like his facial features (teeth, eyes, and hair) have already changed, reflexes and senses are heightened, and he can stay underwater for extended periods. It's usually just around for the transition, but he can shift to that form and stay there.  
> Once he transforms back, the tail simple breaks down into goo before dissipating into the ether; during the breakdown, the lower half of his body reconstitutes. He usually transforms underwater where he can change discreetly; the transition form is useful for that. If he's out of the water, alternative is to wrap a towel or kilt around his waist so that he has something on.  
> As implied, the existence of merfolk is actually known to subsets of society, including governments, but they are still considered myth by society as a whole; companies that employ them have insider knowledge. This applies to other magical beings and cryptids. 
> 
> And, if anyone's wondering, there's the possibility that other members of the SMH may be magical, Nursey included. Some knowing what they are, and other unconsciously having abilities or being latent/carriers.


End file.
